If Ninjas Had Twitter
by Keelah
Summary: Internet makes romance a lot less romantic. (Kakashi X Sakura one-shot, Less Than Three series)


**Less Than Three series:  
**_A collection of one-shots on love and technology._  
_Romance just got a lot less romantic._

* * *

**If Ninjas Had Twitter**

_He was leaving. She was heartbroken. There was still so much left unsaid._

_Unfortunately, internet makes romance a lot less romantic._

(Kakashi x Sakura, One-shot)

* * *

"_Don't."_

It was all too familiar.

The harsh, biting wind whipping at her cold, sweaty skin. The dark glow of dawn. The silent and empty streets, with everyone still asleep in their pleasant dreams, unaware of her own living nightmare. The glint of the village gates in the background.

And the dark shadow in front of her—the one she cherished most, once again with its turned away from her so all she could see, all she's ever seen, was a retreating back.

Once it had been a boy she'd crushed on for her entire childhood.

Now it was man she'd fought alongside of for the last several years. The man she trusted with her life and remained even with the rest of Team 7 had dwindled and left. The one who made her stronger despite the loss of their team. Her teacher. Ally. Friend. And... and what?

She didn't know what had changed between them lately, but it felt different—graver, deeper. Suddenly every kunai that grazed his skin was a minor heart attack in her chest, suddenly every mission scroll sent his way was a possibility that he might never come back. Suddenly he meant so much more to her than he ever had before.

So when he'd received the solo, year-long assassination mission to Suna from the ANBU, it felt as though everything left unsaid and unrealized between them would forever remain that way. They'd run out of time.

Just like before, she had waited hidden near the village gates. He showed up a half hour before sun rise, from a direction opposite her house, indicating that he didn't even bother to drop by her place to say goodbye. It shouldn't have surprised her, she supposed. He hadn't even told her in the first place—she'd found out through Tsunade only the night before that Kakashi had chosen to take the mission. That he didn't wish to let her know. That he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"_Just don't."_

He'd halted when he heard her voice from the shadows, but did not turn. At first, silence and the harsh whips of the wind were all that was heard, but every word unspoken and touch unexplained for the last four or five years echoed between them. She'd always been the first to heal his wounds, and him always the first to stand in front of a kunai aimed for her. Theirs was a mentorship that grew into trust and comradeship, to companionship, then friendship... then...

_He looked away, unable to face the confusion, anger and despair in her eyes._

"_Who told you?"_

_He knew it aggravated her that he took the easier way out, staring at the concrete walls of the buildings just past her shoulder rather than dealing with the pain and anger in her eyes... Beyond her, in the background, was the thick _

_greenery and seeming tranquility of Konoha, the place he'd lived in all his life, and at the forefront—her, the only home he'd ever known. He knew the difference now—she taught him that._

"_Obviously not you."_

S-rank.

An ANBU elite, S-ranked assassination mission.

One year. A whole year.

"_Why didn't you tell me?!"_

Her greatest fear was that the next time she saw him, it would be in a body bag. Her greatest dread was mourning the loss of something no one in the village nor her friends and family knew about—the loss of something that hadn't even begun.

"_Because then I wouldn't be able to leave."_

She couldn't lose him.

"_Why? Why leave?"_

She couldn't sit here in Konoha while he could be fighting for his life a thousand miles away. She didn't underestimate him—he was Hatake Kakashi, for heaven's sake. But she couldn't bear the thought that she wouldn't be there to be the first to heal him, or know he was okay, or scold him for attacking too brashly without regard for his own safety. It terrified her to know that she wouldn't be there, fighting beside him.

If he was hurt or in danger.

If he was alive.

"_I'm coming back, Sakura."_

"_After an entire year!"_

"_Are you afraid things will change?"_

_She'd stiffened then, caught off-guard by what he was suddenly referring to. They'd never discussed them—every lingering stare, every protective hold or gentle caress had always held an undercurrent of deeper emotion, but they'd never spoken it aloud. Until now._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Don't fuck with me. You know exactly what I mean."_

"_Kakashi—"_

"_It won't."_

_She froze. "What?"_

"_Nothing will change."_

_Her look held confusion and shock, but he only gave her a stare filled with decision, promise and unwavering determination. _

"_I'll come back. To you. I swear it."_

"_...A year's a long time."_

"_You'll be in my mind every minute."_

"_How will I know you're doing okay? That you're safe?"_

"_...I'll update."_

"_Update how?" She frowned. "It's an undercover mission. You can't write."_

_He shifted. "There are ways."_

_The frown deepened._

"_I have to go, before the sun rises. Sakura—" He paused then, looking at her one last time. "Don't worry. I'll be okay, I promise, alright?"_

That was all three days ago.

Three days out of the 365 he would be gone.

As Sakura sat in her home, she tried to imagine him now, right at this moment. Was he despairing and brooding like she was right now? Was he thinking of her? Did he regret leaving? Did he miss her? Did he think of all those moments that meant so much more than just the surface peck on the hair or graze across the skin?

Did he get to Suna safely? Undercover missions prohibited contact other than the most protective means of communication. There would have been no way to know if his mission was infiltrated by the enemy, or if he was attacked, or robbed, or lying in a ditch somewhere. There was absolutely no way to know how he was doing—absolutely no way to know if he was hurt or safe. He could be dead and she wouldn't know, no one would until ANBU sweeps found his body months later.

She would never hear from him again.

She would never—

_BLING!_

Sakura started, staring at the blinking screen of her phone.

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 10m  
__stupid enemy attack—mask stained with dirt =( gonna need a new one now_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 4h  
__49 degrees Celsius at Suna! #melting_

She blinked.

Ok, so he was alright. So he got to Suna safely. So he was alive.

But still. Maybe he was just as miserable as she was, feeling just as tragic and romantic.

Maybe he was regretting everything left unsaid between them too, wishing he shouldn't have left and—

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 5h  
__Camewhoring in front of Suna's pyramids. #selfie  
__(View Photo)_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 5h  
__Sand for breakfast! Exotic Suna delicacy. #yum?  
__(View Photo)_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__Eating lunch now. More sand. Guess that's why Gaara always looks pissed off #morefood_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__Paying the bill_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__about to walk out the door!_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__strolling down the sidewalk #likeaboss_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__just waiting for the red light to turn green! #redlightselfies  
__(View Photo)_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__crossing the street! #hmmmwhatshouldIhashtagaboutnext_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__breathing #whoknewtherewaswifiinthedesert?_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__blinking! #Ishouldreallystartmymission_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__What has 100 teeth and holds back the incredible hulk?_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__my zipper. #ba-dumtsshh!_

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 7h  
__Suna ladies. I don't ONLY use my fingers to do the 1000 years of Pain. ;) #singleandreadytomingle_

_**Haruno Sakura**__ HS223 1m  
__HATAKE KAKASHI._

_**Haruno Sakura**__ HS223 1m  
__YOU ARE DEAD.  
I'M BUYING YOUR COFFIN RIGHT NOW._

_..._

_..._

_**Hatake Kakashi**__ HatakeK 1m  
__#ohshit_

* * *

_Note: Just a quick one-shot to spread some laughter and brighten some days. =D Leave a review if you laughed, or even if you snickered **just a little bit**, then I've done my goal!_

_Check out other one-shots in the series (in my profile or search engine): _

_**Less Than Three:  
**__A collection of one-shots on love and technology._  
_Romance just got a lot less romantic._

**Auto-Incorrect (Less Than Three #1)  
**There are many things the Lord of the Western Lands can do. Texting is not one of them.  
(One-shot, Sesshomaru X Kagome)

**Decoding Emoticons (Less Than Three #2)  
**"TTYL Sesshy. CYA soon! XD" Oh god. Those evil little symbols again. He battled demons & ruled the Western Lands—but this godforsaken cult language was the one thing he can't defeat. What in the world was an X and D?  
(Kagome X Sesshomaru, One-shot)

Enjoy the laughs :)  
#Keelah


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